Flashes Win Third Straight in Convincing Fashion over Buffalo

Thursday, October 4

Kent, Ohio

7:00 p.m.

Kent State University

7-5-1, 3-2-0MAC

Buffalo

9-3-0, 3-2-0MAC

Buffalo

Kent State

Photo by: David Dermer

Flashes Win Third Straight in Convincing Fashion over Buffalo

10/4/2018 10:30:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

KENT, Ohio – Kent State (7-5-1, 3-2-0 MAC) rolled to a 5-2 win over Buffalo (9-3-0, 3-2-0 MAC) at Dix Stadium on Thursday night. The Golden Flashes stormed out of the gate, scoring all five goals in the first half, with sophomore Isabelle Mihail tallying her second two-goal game of the season. Kent State is on a three-game winning streak for the first time this year.

"We focused on getting good starts to games, and I thought we started off extremely well and our finishing was fantastic," said head coach Rob Marinaro. "We knew we needed to come out and increase the energy and the intensity level. The speed of play has really picked up."

Mihail scored the first goal of the match in the 19th minute on an assist from sophomore Cameron Shedenhelm. Sophomore Maddie Holmes scored her third goal of the home stand in the 21st minute on an unassisted header to put Kent State in control, 2-0.

Senior Dominque DiNardo registered her first career goal in the 27th minute and was assisted by sophomore Vital Kats. The Golden Flashes continued to attack and scored their fourth goal in 10 minutes when Mihail found the net for the second time on another assist by Shedenhelm. Freshman Khyla Porter capped off the scoring with a missile from 25 yards out that found the top shelf of the goal.

"In practice, we worked as forwards and worked to connect and Cameron Shedenhelm found me both times and we couldn't have scored without her passes," remarked Mihail. "We came out super strong tonight and knew we needed a win and everyone worked together as a team."

Buffalo scored two goals in the second period to end the shutout.

The Flashes scored five goals for the first time since October 2, 2016 in a 5-1 win over Western Michigan and have now won three straight against the Bulls.

Kent State defense answered the call as well and limited the Bulls, who entered in second place in the Mid-American Conference standings, to just six shots. Redshirt freshman Faith O'Neill (5-4-1) made two saves in goal for Kent State. Emily Kelly (9-3-0) made two stops Sarah Bykowicz had four for Buffalo.

The Golden Flashes finish up the weekend on Sunday, Oct. 7 at 1 p.m. with a road battle at rival Akron.

Be sure to follow Kent State Soccer on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for news and in-match updates about the squad